Arknights story · First of A Thousand Autumns
TA-8 Golden Erasing Blade
In the Sky Mirror Pavilion, Mo Yi claims that the Grand Commandant's goal is to steal the writing knife and alter history, unlocking Bu Fan with Wei Yenwu's life, and that he is aided and abetted by Chun, head of the Sui Regulator. With leaves rustling and candlelight flickering, Baizao sits on the brink of war.
2 scenes, 390 lines
1. Before Operation
193 linesYour uniform suits you.
S-Supervisor! Zuo Le reporting.
At ease. No need to be too uptight your first day on the job. Better that you maintain your youthful energy.
Understood, Supervisor!
...
Do you know where we are, Zuo Le?
'Upon the peaks was the beast cornered and killed.' This was the battlefield where we killed a Feranmut during the Great Hunt.
But...
Zuo Le pauses, unsure if he can continue, until he sees the patient gaze of the Supervisor.
This was also where countless soldiers and civilians lost their lives... where living, breathing people faded into a graveyard of lines of cold numbers between the pages.
You have realized something that many Candleholders older than you do not.
'Carry the fire that drives out the shadows of the Feranmut, and travel amongst the people to learn their troubles.'
It was the first Candleholder, holding the torch that discovered the existence of the Feranmuts, that made possible the war with the gods which secured Yan's future.
Even today, the existence of Feranmuts is only known to a select few.
Which makes it all the more important that the Candleholder's fire remains brightly lit where shadows fall.
I will do my utmost to protect the people.
I am glad to see your resolve. But let me ask you again—what are the Feranmuts, in your eyes?
What are the proxies who live amongst us within the season, on whom we keep a constant watch?
The hearts of people are fickle; the hearts of beasts even more so. Perhaps some amongst Them have once aided Yan, be it out of a whim, or true sincerity.
But weighing the pros and cons, ultimately... They are different from us. They are... enemies.
Enemies, you say...
...Enemies.
That question should be mine to ask.
Where have you taken the token from the Garden of Grotesqueries after the Placation was completed?
Something was not right at the Sui Regulator, and scriptgeists were running amok in the Sky Mirror Pavilion. I wanted to wait for the situation to settle down before seeking your counsel...
Then you can give it to me here.
I have heard that it was not the usual jade rule that was retrieved from the Garden of Grotesqueries this year. I will bring it back to the Sui Regulator for further investigation.
I...
Acting on a subconscious instinct, Zuo Le finds himself taking a step back from his familiar superior.
My, my. I did not think there would come a day when Candleholder Zuo defied his orders.
Cut the crap—you're Chun, head of the Sui Regulator?
A Shanhaizhong member, in the Sky Mirror Pavilion. A highly ranked one, too, judging from your attire. Under normal circumstances, the Patrol Battalion would have faced severe penalties.
And this is... Lady Ch'en?
You're Zuo Le's boss?
Though I am unworthy of this position, it is my duty.
What are you doing here? Waiting for us to walk into a trap?
Unfortunately, it is not you that I am waiting for.
Hand over the token, Zuo Le, and you may leave with your friends. We can discuss your association with undesirable elements later.
I thought you would tell him to take me in on the spot to make up for his transgressions.
We are in the courts of Yan, not some bandit camp.
Fine enough for you to say.
Who was it who encouraged Jie to enter the Tomb of Sui, so that the more dangerous proxy for Yan would die in Wang's place, catapulting her own career in the process?
Yaan would be ashamed to have a descendant like you!
Mo Yi! The Supervisor is not like that!
Really? Then why did she become the Supervisor so soon after Jie's death?
Only a thief sees thieves everywhere.
Keep your mouth shut, for you are not worthy to speak her name.
The imperial court of Yan does not pause or waver for any person or thing. All that it does is measured against the interests of Great Yan.
The interests of Great Yan?
It seems Lady Ch'en has something to say.
Very well. I will give you three minutes, in consideration of the risks that Zuo Le ran to retrieve this object from the Garden of Grotesqueries.
There is someone I am waiting for anyway. Ask your questions, then leave the token and leave this place.
Waiting for someone?
Yes, waiting for someone.
Is it the proxy who holds the key?
Why do you say that?
Geists run rampant through Baizao, but Zuo Le is the only one who is trying to tackle the scriptgeists at the source, and on no orders at that.
The L.G.D. was never so negligent, even when Wei Yenwu's oversight was at its laxest.
The first thing you asked about when you saw Zuo Le was not the scriptgeists, but the token from the Garden of Grotesqueries... you seem to care nothing for your responsibilities.
The Sui Regulator is not the police.
Who in Baizao is more qualified than the Sui Regulator to deal with the scriptgeists?
...
Your goals are aligned with the Grand Commandant's... you want the writing knife.
And if Mo Yi is telling the truth, no one in Baizao is closer to the writing knife than Jun.
You do the L.G.D. proud, superintendent.
Why are you assisting the Grand Commandant's plot? What do you plan to do with Wei Yenwu? Or have you already joined forces with him?
Plot?
You may have been an excellent officer of the law, Lady Ch'en, but it is not your place to intervene in matters of national interest.
I've been to places and seen things. There's no need for grandiose words.
If your plot is indeed in the interest of the nation, you should feel no shame in saying it out loud.
Only those involved in political squabbles would keep bringing up 'national interest' when questioned, beating around the bush and deflecting the question.
You should be careful with your words, Lady Ch'en. The matters of state are complex and interconnected, and it is not unusual for officials to have differing views. Your words insult all who serve the state.
For a thousand years, the Sui Regulator has had one mission, and one alone—to do what is best for Yan in matters pertaining to Feranmuts. Nothing else matters to us.
Even if the Grand Commandant's actions are indeed drastic, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. The use of the writing knife does not constitute treason.
Then what is he planning—
...
At this point, I doubt this damned old Elf is gonna talk, so I'll do the talking for her.
Just as I suspected—the Grand Commandant wants to rewrite history with the writing knife and completely eliminate the bestial Sui. The price is the True Lung's life.
?!
But why... what does the True Lung's life have to do with destroying a Feranmut?
We were just talking about it, before we were interrupted... a thousand years ago, the grandmaster discovered a piece of Originium that he presented to the True Lung as a weapon that can end the Great Hunt.
Realizing its importance, the True Lung had his Fangshi perform a ritual that linked it to True Lung's bloodline.
Henceforth, the power of the Originium may only be harnessed by the reigning True Lung.
That True Lung had a bit of a conscience, at least, and he set a condition in the ritual, probably to prevent his descendants from abusing it—
The full power of the Originium can only be unleashed by sacrificing the life of the True Lung. Hence it was given the name Bu Fan—'No Rebellion'.
But does the True Lung's life to be sacrificed really have to be the emperor's? Why did the Grand Commandant go to such painstaking lengths to obtain this writing knife, if his goal was merely a coup?
You mean... the Grand Commandant wants to use the writing knife to change the record of who the current True Lung is?!
'The Grand Preceptor incited the prince to regicide.'
What is the truth of what happened that night? Who sent the Yulin Guard away? Who actually entered the emperor's chambers? These things are not specified in the records...
Therefore, the records of what happened that night can still be rewritten using the writing knife.
If the history books and Bu Fan recognize Lord Wei as the reigning True Lung, then the life of the True Lung obviously refers to Lord Wei's life.
—!
I had thought that you were young, and that though you may have strayed from the righteous path, you should be given the chance to right your wrongs.
Regrettably, it seems I cannot allow you to live.
Not putting on a show of honesty and uprightness anymore, are we?
Supervisor!
Hand over the token, Zuo Le! Whatever happens after that is none of your concern!
If what Mo Yi says is true... then I voice my dissent to your methods, Supervisor.
I cannot comply.
I don't want to damage the Sky Mirror Pavilion... don't make me do this.
You're talking to the wrong person. I have the token—
Ch'en's vision is obstructed by several maple leaves. The lamplight sways slightly.
Ch'en steps back and prepares to engage, only for Mo Yi to step forward and block Chun's attack.
So the Supervisor of the Sui Regulator is not above sneak attacks... like a thief.
One can be subtle and reserved with words, but action must be decisive and without hesitation. It is as true in weiqi as it is with all things in life.
Supervisor...
...
I have read about the writing knife in the past. In Jie's hands, it can indeed alter history and greatly influence events.
But we are not proxies. Our tampered historical records will never endure for long!
An instant is all it takes to activate Bu Fan.
Besides...
After this, there will no longer be a disgraced deposed crown prince in Yan, only a pure True Lung whose legitimacy is beyond question—is that right?
That is not the Sui Regulator's concern.
Since her death, Great Yan's history is already in tatters. One more change will hardly make a difference—
How can you be so sure that we cannot record history truthfully?
Ch'en Chao-ch'ien... Magistrate of Water for the Sky Mirror Pavilion.
I wanted to ask you as well, Supervisor...
For many years, you assisted Jie in compiling history in her office... why is it that you have now turned to tampering with history?
The records of Yan are classified into four parts: Classics, History, Philosophy, and Literature.
The divisions of History and Philosophy may seem distinct, but even the masterwork of the one venerated as the Saint of History was, merely the personal treatise within Philosophy.
Those who follow, modeling their brushes after his style, produce what is ultimately but the statement of a single house, and the House of Yan.
Those writings are no more than comments after the fact. The truth has long faded into the cracks of time.
How could you say that?
You must have read the Saint of History's notes. Despite imprisonment and torture, he always wrote the facts as they were and exposed injustice.
You must have read the history tomes of the Sky Mirror Pavilion, written by thousands of sages who poured their hearts and souls into them, striving to set the record straight, to weigh every word in judgment of right and wrong.
You must have heard of unofficial historians—meticulously investigating and analyzing their sources, coveting not the court's wealth and rank, but striving only to uphold justice for the common people.
I saw with my own eyes the elders of my family dying on white fields of snow because they wanted to write down the truth... nay, because they were honest to themselves!
These people, who wrote history with their own flesh and blood, who willingly became the flame to illuminate the truth even for a moment—
Who are they to you, Supervisor?
They are the writers.
True and false, right and wrong, these things always depend on the stance of the writer, rather than on what is actually right.
You ought to know—even with the revisions of countless esteemed scholars, the histories we read are still rife with embellishment, omissions and lies.
The ironic thing is... we could not even call such things 'evil'.
The curled leaves make a sharp sound against each other, questioningly, lamentingly.
Stand back, Ch'en Chao-ch'ien. You are neither Candleholder, nor Shanhaizhong, nor the niece of a deposed crown prince. This is not your fight.
I—
Did the Imperial Historical Cabinet truly take up responsibility for writing history after her passing? Did the Sky Mirror Pavilion truly fulfill its duty of righting the wrongs?
You are the descendant of historians. If you take up their mantle, can you truly guarantee that every word will be true for all eternity?
I...
No. You dare not shoulder this responsibility.
...
I know about you.
You wanted to change the Sky Mirror Pavilion's culture of obsession with the analysis of ancient history while neglecting recent history. That's why you took up a minor position at the Sky Mirror Pavilion, hoping to lead by example by studying your family's history.
Decades, centuries, millennia. How could you claim to speak for history, when you have not borne witness to time on the scale that she knew?
Stand back.
The maple leaves sharpen.
This time, no one saw what Chun did. All she did was wave her sleeve; the next instant, Ch'en Chao-ch'ien was lying unconscious on the floor.
Chao-ch'ien?!
Supervisor—
She's just unconscious. She'll wake up in a couple of hours. There is no need for her to sink any deeper into this mire. She's but an unfortunate ordinary woman. She shouldn't have to be like you... or like me.
I hear Elves live a long time.
We do.
You don't believe in history or in lasting justice in people's hearts... because the one who had walked side-by-side with you on the long road of time died because of you?
This question is not yours to ask, Ch'en Hui-chieh.
As an Elf, you don't know where you came from, whether there are any of your kind left, or whether there'll ever be a home for you—
My past, present and future belong to Yan.
And that involves tossing your fellows into the abyss?
Having her die in Wang's place was the appropriate decision under the circumstances! This is beyond all doubt!
Compiling history, recording the passage of time... have you any idea of the power of these 'years', the power of time?
'The beast walks with the generous earth.' She had gone one step further. Her power was rooted in words, and lived in history. As long as the records of Yan continued, her power would continue to grow without end.
If left unchecked, what sort of monster would be created in the end? It would be something even more powerful, even more terrible than Sui itself!
She was my mentor, my confidant, my friend. But I could not endanger Great Yan with my own selfish interests.
I've seen people like you... people who abandoned their friends, but long to see them again in dreams, in order to beg for forgiveness.
...
Head of the Sui Regulator, what would you do if there was a way to see her again?
I warn you, do not play games with the lives of millions for the fantasies of a madman!
Wang did not go into the Tomb of Sui for the sole purpose of eliminating Sui.
The object that he had you retrieve from the Garden of Grotesqueries surely has something to do with his deranged plans to bring the dead back to life.
I'm surprised... I thought you got along well with her when you were her Candleholder.
Isn't there a part of you, somewhere, that wants his plan to succeed?
He already failed a hundred and twenty years ago. He will fail again. Allowing him to continue on his reckless path will only lead to more disaster.
How can I trust a madman who treats heaven and earth as his weiqi board, and all lives and souls as his pieces? How can I trust a sinner who caused the death of his sister?
How can I trust the obsession of a Feranmut?
Because, like you, he walked this land, lived in the seasons, and vowed to become 'human', to become part of this land and those who live upon it.
'Human'?
Humans are humans because they live and die. This is why they shine, as the candle's fleeting glow.
She has lived, and she has died. Wang seeks to disturb the slumber of the dead, in defiance of the laws of Heaven.
Even if his delusions somehow came true, how can you be sure that it is the departed herself who has returned and not a geist, a hollow puppet that only carries her image?
You just don't want to believe.
Things seldom go the way people want them to.
The outcome may not be exactly what we want. But to be shackled by regret and not even have the courage to take a single step...
...That is nothing but cowardice.
You have a way with words, Ch'en Hui-chieh. But I don't see how you intend to carry out the justice you speak of.
The token and the key. I am only here for them.
Continue to play games with words, and I will crush you before dealing with them.
Let's see who's crushing who.
What about you, Zuo Le?
I apologize, but I must cause offense.
Hah. So be it.
Those who stay near ink get stained. You have made some good friends, Candleholder Zuo.
Do your worst.
2. After Operation
197 linesYou almost hit a bookshelf.
I am no swordswoman and I have no interest in admiring Chi Xiao. But it would be a shame if your sword ruins the collection of the Sky Mirror Pavilion.
But you are not confident about taking the token from me.
Is that so?
The Elf now truly waves her jade scepter and twig for the first time.
Withered vines rush out from the ground, forming massive hands.
Dammit, she's a nightmare to deal with! Is the Sui Regulator's Supervisor decided through combat?!
How does the book go anyway... ah, I remember—and it's autumn, this is perfect...
'Metal's nature is change.'
Take this!
For a thief, you're pretty well-learned.
I wouldn't be surprised if I know Yin-Yang and the Five Elements better than someone who's forgotten her roots.
Zuo Le! Ch'en Hui-chieh! Your turn!
Zuo Le charges towards Chun, intent on disrupting her ability to respond.
Meanwhile, Ch'en Hui-chieh pulls back, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
In between them, Mo Yi unleashes razor-sharp autumn winds, tangling with the vine hands.
The Supervisor of the Sui Regulator continues to stand where she is, utterly impassive, as though she is watching a farce that she is becoming increasingly bored with.
Ch'en Hui-chieh continues to back off, until her back is almost touching the closed door.
Damn... can't hold on much longer!
Ch'en!
Chi Xiao...
Splits the clouds—
Riding on the autumn wind, the sword aura sweeps away all the vines. The Elf looks surprised for a brief moment.
Then, dried leaves sharp as razors fly out from the vines towards the trio.
Mo Yi urgently casts a defensive spell, but the leaves cut their clothes and bags open...
The token that has slumbered since it was retrieved from the Garden of Grotesqueries falls on the ground.
This is the token from the Garden of Grotesqueries?
It is a geist.
It is, indeed, a geist.
The weiqi player had taken Sui's wildest imagination from the Garden of Grotesqueries and hollowed out the interior, leaving only the gleaming exterior...
The memories of his siblings were then injected to create this object.
Made of a glass-like substance, the tiny geist lies immobile on the ground for a while... then, it seems to grow ethereal.
It awakens.
It does not seem to feel pain. Or perhaps, the pain was overcome by the urge to return to this familiar place.
She begins to stumble towards the door.
That is...
Impossible!
All it takes is a single thought from the Elf, and the churning vines could shatter the object to smithereens. But Chun cannot bring herself to do it.
Because she truly does see a familiar figure in it.
The object touches the door, and it is as though a dream that has slumbered for a hundred years is suddenly awakened by an intruder.
The falling dust forms thousands of golden threads drifting in the air in the setting sun. The sliver of life force ripples.
All breaths are held as they see the ethereal figure that drifts between light and shadow in the falling dust.
It is blurry, indistinct, the only clear feature its grey robe, like paper that has grown yellow from the passage of time, but still smelling faintly of old books and dried ink...
The door opens slowly.
How do you get in, if you give me the key?
Why should the master of the house need a key?
The shadow bends slightly, as though trying to pick up the cracked scroll on the desk.
Or perhaps it is walking towards the window to open the sash closed for so long, to see if the osmanthus that was young back then has bloomed this year.
But her movement ultimately freezes between the done and the undone, a faint wisp of melancholy suspended in the sunset.
Put this scroll on the shelf by the wall. Leave that document on the desk; it's not yet finished.
A painting from Dusk? I should find a good place to hang it.
Why do I have to do these chores for you?!
Oh? But Nian said her Candleholder even helps her put together mahjong games.
Desk, chair and scrolls... every object in the room breathes with the shadow. They are her old friends, and she is the reason they never left.
A gust of wind blows through the room. The geist falls asleep and the shadow dissipates like a drop of ink that falls into water, leaving behind only that which is real, the shadows of dust.
And the sun, shining into an empty room.
It's...
Her...
No, she was a little taller, her hair a little blacker... she was thin, but not like that...
She cannot, would not accept, yet there is a single question that she could never answer.
Who else could it be?
Who else could it be?
The stunned Elf does not even notice the appearance of the proxy, one who is very much flesh and blood.
She continues to stand at the same spot, staring in the direction where the shadow disappeared.
I came as you asked.
But it seems you no longer have anything to say to me.
...
It's her... it's really her...
I never thought... I didn't think there was any trace of her existence left...
There is no doubt about it. It's a sliver of her life force, which those young people retrieved from the Sui's Remnant Consciousness.
As for traces of her existence... they are in the books of the Sky Mirror Pavilion, in countless scholars across the land of Yan.
Now, do you still believe that everything we siblings have done since Jie's disappearance is futile, Candleholder Chun?
If... if you can still find a trace of her somewhere...
Tell her...
The long-lived Candleholder chokes on her own words. She gazes wordlessly at the study, the interior of which has not changed for a century.
Having taken it all in, she turns around and slowly walks towards the exit, fighting the urge to look back at every step.
Leaving this place she knows best, yet brings her the most despair.
...I did not know that Wang's obsession was this paranoid, yet so deep.
I saw you at the city gates...
And we meet again.
You are... Jun?
Thank you for protecting her token.
Lady Jun... no, Master Jun.
I heard you were a close friend of the grandmaster's, and I have long heard your name spoken of with reference... it is an honor to meet you.
Don't try to curry favor with me. I'm not even sure if I had been born at the time of the old carpenter's death.
I'm glad to see that someone still remembers his views after a thousand years have passed.
But did you do what you did at Mangshan Town out of a desire for peace, or out of your own bitter cynicism? Do you really need me to tell you?
The old Tianshi gave you an opportunity to make up for your transgressions. Have you done so?
The proxy does not raise her voice, and there is no anger in it, but her voice naturally begets respect.
...
I've long heard of the second Sui sister's unapproachable nature. Today, I got to witness it.
There is always hope for those who learn from their mistakes.
Zuo Le.
Academician Jun...
Words cannot express my gratitude for you bringing back this sliver of Jie's life force from the Garden of Grotesqueries.
Our family will remember the favor, and repay it when the time is right.
I'm simply doing my duty as a Candleholder. The Supervisor lost her composure, but the candle of the Sui Regulator remains lit.
She was trapped between the greater good and personal desire, and was eventually crushed by her own obsessions... you must not repeat her mistakes, when the time comes for you to take on great responsibility.
Me...?
Now, though, it is more useful for you to go outside than to stay here and look at relics of the past.
Take this girl too, and put her somewhere safe downstairs. It is late autumn, and the floor is cold.
I trust you will handle the matter of the writing knife properly, Academician Jun.
Of course.
One more request, if I may.
Jun turns around and picks up the geist from the ground.
She has turned back into the small, quiet doll, perhaps exhausted from the action she just performed.
You know that this geist was formed by the last speck of Jie's life force.
Wang drew you into the game and had you retrieve this object so that you could deliver it here and allow it to recuperate, in preparation for her return.
But... consider it a burst of sentimentality from a reunion with someone long thought lost.
Please deliver it to the Tomb of Sui. The future is yet unsettled. Our family will gather outside the tomb.
I do not know if the day will come when Jie returns. But if Wang sees it as Jie's foundation, she should be there for this meeting.
Wang is in the tomb, and I must help him. There will be a battle. Carrying this object would be unsafe, and perhaps cause a delay...
...
Leave it to me!
The Shanhaizhong snatches the token from the woman's hands before the Candleholder can react.
I will see it done, in the name of Zushi!
The dignified woman bows deeply to the two youngsters.
Thank you.
Lady Jun...
You blocked the attack against me at the gate, and protected Jie's legacy.
Has chivalry become a habit of yours?
I do what I do for the sake of justice.
What is justice?
Justice is making sure that Wei Yenwu does not die an unjust death, and giving the old case a proper trial.
Justice is bringing closure to all that has happened between mother and father, between the imperial family and the House of Ch'en.
Justice is making sure that the proxy who did so much for Great Yan did not die in vain, and giving Great Yan a chance at peace.
What about justice for you as an Infected?
...
I have seen so much suffering in my journeys... this land has been too kind to me. I wield my justice for the sake of others.
Very well.
I can't help you with the justice you seek. But perhaps her relic can.
Do you mean... the writing knife?!
Take it.
The justice you seek is closely linked to the incident forty years ago.
You are the only one to whom I can entrust this knife, who can right the wrongs for your family, for your country.
There should be closure to the matters of the Ch'en family, Lord Wei's decision, and the thousand years of records for the land on which she once lived and breathed.
These were the hopes that she placed upon the writing knife.
The history of Great Yan should be written by the Yanese people.
Come with me.
They walk into the room.
Like revisiting a scene from an old play, Jun slowly walks through the room that has not changed one bit in the past century.
Everything is familiar. No one has touched it for a hundred years.
It's been a while.
The writing knife has resurfaced, but it is no longer in your hands. If I have entrusted it to the wrong person...
I will shoulder the responsibility for any consequences on your behalf.
Ch'en's palm closes around the knife. Her fingertip trembles, as if the weight of a thousand books is upon her heart.
She has given her all wholeheartedly, and sacrificed herself selflessly. Now, everything has come together as appointed.
She clutches the writing knife. In her eyes, something sinks, and something else burns bright.
—It is the weight of an era, and a reunion that the knife has long awaited.
I hope... you will not disappoint.
...I will not disappoint.
What's going on?!
These geists just appeared out of nowhere!
The annals of Mangshan Town record that similar scenes of rampaging geists were spotted during the turmoil caused by Sui a hundred and twenty years ago.
Is the bestial Sui awakening?
What a headache... guess it's happened after all.
Number Two, you fool, why are you dilly-dallying? How many times do I have to bail you out?
Lin Qingyan!
What are your instructions?
This is where the geists are most rampant. They must not be allowed to enter Baizao!
You and I will guard this pass. Do not let a single geist through!
Yes, master!
I can't hear you, girl!
Look lively! Treat this as your entrance exam. Pass the test, and I'll take you as my student. Then you can make your old teacher call you 'master'!
I wouldn't dare!
Is there anything that I can help with?
Help? What could you do...
Watch my moves and record them. Then you can show them to your teacher and see who's better.
The fire rises—
Wait... *pant* wait for me... *pant*
You run too fast!
What's the matter? You were the one who was in a hurry.
If you're out of breath, give it to me and I'll deliver it.
In your dreams!
You blockhead! Did you think about how we're supposed to enter the Tomb of Sui when we arrive?
We'll explain to the soldiers guarding the tomb and ask them to let us through...
Riiiiggghhht. And how do you plan to explain where you got the thing you're holding?
Or... maybe find a way to sneak in...
Your brain really is made entirely of wood, isn't it?
Do you have an idea, then?
If we can't get inside the Tomb of Sui, we'll find someone who can.
Zuo Le senses a hostile presence and instinctively draws his sword.
The thing you promised me.
Hand it over.
...
The Forbidden City is just ahead...
It should be heavily guarded, if the Grand Commandant really intends to sacrifice Wei Yenwu's life.
There are guards stationed at all the important intersections in the city. It should not be hard to detect unusual movements by a large force.
Wait, is that...
Ch'en stops in her tracks.
She sees a figure.
A very familiar one.
Hui-chieh.
You should not have come.